in demand

I was prepared to take a moderately long walk to Be Hoppy and checked my Google Maps real quick to make sure I was on track...turns out they're in a new location, closer to where I was than the old one.  It's a somewhat larger store, with bigger refrigerators, and more taps.  That seems to be the way things go, start selling bottles, end up pouring drinks right there.  I decided to be a little daring, and appropriate for the season, and pick up a Berliner weisse.  It's a special one, though, with ginger and lime, so extra kicky and refreshing.  Stand In Line is a promising name, although the design on the can makes me think of a much heavier sounding beer.  Maybe I'll be surprised by the ginger.

While it looks like a pretty normal beer, there's a sharp sourfruit aroma that you really ought to expect from a weisse.  Especially with fruit.  Not as sour as expected at first, but give it a few seconds and oh boy.  It's not too over-the-top, really something like sour candies that aren't going to make you turn inside out, but it does give you a nice kick in the face.  To get your attention, you know.  Paying close attention does identify some sweetish lime in there, coming out towards the end of the sip.  The ginger takes a while to build up, like with Thai food.  It seems sweet or just savory at first, but keep on stuffing your mouth and it won't be long before you'll be looking for a nice milkshake.  Or a milk stout?  It's a respectable 4.5% but that leaves room for something stronger later on.  The lime gets stronger and stronger, leaving a taste like window cleaner smells.  The ginger, sadly, loses strength as the lime gains, so it's not super well balanced in that regard.  Or maybe that is exactly the balance, the two guest stars taking turns.

Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €4.15

the name says it all

So many of the beer stores also offer beer on tap now, as you might have noticed.  A lot just have a couple of taps, others have more than some regular bars.  Be Hoppy (c/Almaden 18) only has two taps, but man, the selection!  The shelves are covered in things I want to drink right now!  They are on the pricey side, being so excellently special, but there are plenty of things on par with the rest of the shops and bars in town.  I had me a pint there today, Magic Rock Micromachine session IPA.  It's hot, OK?  The other choice was a fruity sour, and I thought the session would be a bit lighter.  It is lighter in alcohol, coming in at only 2.8%. 

It starts with a nice citrusy aroma, coming up from a dark yellowy orange liquid.  The head fizzes off pretty fast, though.  It's lightly bitter, only very slight citrus taste, so a mild flavor overall.  It's very easy drinking, good for a thirsty afternoon without a lot of extra sweetness or sharp hops.  The beer has a very smooth feel to it, soft and rounded in the mouth, slips right down the gullet.  However, don't get too comfortable with it; a big drink will bring out the sour, and letting it stand and warm up for too long will make it thicken up and be a little more feisty being swallowed.

A little atmosphere

That, uh...isn't the atmosphere I was thinking of

The store is a nice little place with attentive keepers.  Today it was just the gentleman, who brought me the tap menu when I came in!  Such service!  It's like he knew what I was thinking.  It's also cute that they have a menu, rather than the blackboard, although the board is there but blank right now.  I think I even slipped in just before they closed on a Sunday once, so hours are quite accessible.  Good beers and easy to get 'em, that's all anybody wants, right?

And a shady street too

bit of bubbly

I don't know what to do with myself in the beer stores anymore, there are always so many beers I haven't seen yet.  Will there be time for them all?  Who knows?  No harm in trying.  I went out on a limb for a fruity beer, but not a lambic style.  It's a pale ale from Magic Rock, High Wire Grapefruit.  Sounds almost like a breakfast beer.  The can is acceptable, since it'll have to chill quickly for the evening tasting, and we've been told that's an advantage of the thin metal of the can over the glass bottle.  Onward!

A whiff of grapefruit juice comes out as soon as you pop the tab, and the beer pours out like grapefruit soda.  It's not as pink as you might expect, but there is a hint in there.  The taste is full and mellow, but most definitely bitter.  It doesn't have the citrus sharpness of grapefruit juice or the biting bitterness of an ale, just the flavor that makes you think you're taking in something that better be good for you.  A hint of sweetness lurks around the aftertaste, but never quite makes it out on its own.  It may be a little bit light for a winter evening, having the waking powers and happy feel of a summertime drink.  In spite of its rounded and softly bitter flavor, I'd wait a few months before having it again.  Dark nights call for dark beer and light evenings call for ...well, dark beer too for me, but refreshing ales can also be appreciated.

Supplier: Espuma
Price: €3.50

the art of dark beers

For some reason, a good Halloweeny label wasn't easy to find.  It's better on a dark beer, but I would have settled for an IPA.  Still nothing.  The best I could find was a can, which aggravates some people, but there are some practical arguments for them.  I say "the best I could find', but Dark Arts Surreal Stout does have a legitimately spooky design.  So, it's a stout, there's ghosts on the container, will it be the rich redeemer of my stout tasting?

It's a smooth pour, but a little over-bubbly in the glass; maybe it's more chilled than it needs to be.  It's just the color you want to see from a stout, and there's a fairly strong and enticing smell from it.  The taste is not extremely powerful, but pleasing, tending to chocolate at first and then dying back to more low-toned bitter.  It's exactly the consistency a stout should have, being smooth and creamy, but with that bite of bitter and smoke in the background.  I'm quite pleased with Halloween weekend beer!  If somebody dropped it in my bag for trick-or-treat I'd have to TP a house in their name.

Supplier: La Birratorium
Price: €2.25-2.45